Will you chip in to support our nonprofit newsroom with a donation today?
Yes, I want to support My MLTnews!
As the No. 11 seed in the District 1 3A Fastpitch Softball Tournament, the Meadowdale Mavericks were the surprise of the tourney. The Mavericks defeated three higher-seeded teams during the earlier stages of the tournament to unexpectedly get into one of the final-day winner-to-state contests.
Unfortunately for the Mavs, their magical tourney run came to an end against the No. 4-seeded Stanwood Spartans on Thursday. The Mavericks fell behind early, tried to stay close but eventually ran out of gas and succumbed to the Spartans 10-1 at the Phil Johnson Ballfields in Everett.
With the loss, the Mavs saw their 2026 season come to an end — just one win short of qualifying for the 3A state tournament.
Stanwood (19-4 overall and No. 5 in the WIAA 3A State RPI rankings) jumped out to a first-inning 2-0 advantage over Meadowdale on Thursday, thanks to RBI singles by Addi Anderson and Jordan Rancourt.
Mavericks’ Coach Julia Reuble admitted that the early deficit proved costly. “Our goal is to try to score first,” she said. “It is tough to try to chase our tails. We had the talent to get it done; it just didn’t go our way today.”
The Spartans tacked on another run in the second inning with an RBI single by Taylor Almanza before the Mavs picked up their lone run of the game in the third with an RBI double by senior Madison Mitchell, scoring Zoe De Mello.
Stanwood increased their lead to 5-1 in the fifth inning when Rancourt blasted a two-run homer to deep center field. Then in the sixth inning, the Spartans put the game out of reach by scoring five runs, with the biggest daggers to the heart of the Mavs being an RBI double by Rancourt and a two-run single by Mads Archer.
Reuble gave credit to the Spartans for their overwhelming performance on Thursday and for their strong overall season. “Stanwood’s a great team. I know they’ll probably go pretty far in State,” she said.
While the final score gave the impression that the matchup between the Spartans and Mavericks was a blowout, the Mavs had their chances to stay close throughout the game. Meadowdale had a pair of runners aboard with just one out in the second, fourth and fifth innings but didn’t score in any of the three frames.
“It’s a little unfortunate. We had runners on but just needed to push through,” Reuble said. “And we just didn’t get it done.”
Mavs’ pitcher Payton Aldridge gave up 11 hits in the game but only three earned runs as Stanwood was helped by three Meadowdale errors.
Just to reach the District 1 tournament third place winner-to-state game, Meadowdale had gotten past No. 10-seed Edmonds-Woodway, No. 7-seed Monroe and No. 6-seed Ferndale over the previous six days of the tourney. The postseason success of the Mavs surprised many, even Rueble.
“I didn’t expect us, in the middle of the season, to be here,” Rueble said. “But I’m happily surprised that we were. And I knew that these girls would work hard and put their heads down to be able to get here. And we proved to everyone else that we could do it; the underdog can do it.”
The Mavericks end their 2026 campaign with an overall record of 11-13 and a 3-2 mark in the District 1 3A tournament.
Thursday’s loss also was the final game for four Mavs seniors: Mitchell, Hailey Bernards, Sophia Billy and Mackenzie Kim. “All of those seniors did a fantastic job,” Reuble said. “I know a lot of the girls valued their relationships with them. And I really enjoyed coaching them the past two years.”
Mitchell led the team in hitting this season with an average above .500 for most of the year. “She really left it all out on the field, in my opinion, so I was really proud of her,” Reuble said.
Bernards spent the year anchoring right field for the Mavs. “She was always positive and she always liked to bring everyone along with her in a positive way,” Reuble said. “She was very inspirational to the girls.”
Though being sidelined at times due to injury, Billy was a big contributor to the Mavericks’ success this season, Reuble said. “She battled through those (injuries) and she ended up doing a really good job at the plate and at first base for us this year. She’s such a joy to coach; she always has a smile on her face.”
For Kim, the 2026 season was spent on the bench as the senior was seated due to a knee injury. “She was an amazing leader that gave such insight to the young players and tried to get everyone’s mindset right when we were struggling,” Reuble noted. “She was someone a lot of the girls looked up to.”
View the entire District 1 3A Fastpitch Softball Tournament bracket here.
Prep softball: Meadowdale versus Stanwood, May 14 (District 1 3A Fastpitch Tournament third-place winner-to-state game)
Meadowdale 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 – 1 5 3
Stanwood 2 1 0 0 2 5 x – 10 11 2
Winning pitcher: Addi Anderson (Stanwood); 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 8 SO
Losing pitcher: Payton Aldridge (Meadowdale); 11 H, 10 R, 3 ER, 6 SO
Top hitters: Jordan Rancourt (Stanwood), 3-for-4, 4 RBI’s; Lillian McCormick (Meadowdale), 2-for-3
Records: Meadowdale 6-6 in 2A/3A Wesco League South Conference, 11-13 overall; Stanwood 7-3 in 2A/3A Wesco League North Conference, 19-4 overall
Meadowdale’s next game: 2026 season completed
Stanwood’s next game: versus opponent to-be-determined; time, date and place to-be-announced (WIAA State 3A Fastpitch Softball Tournament game)
Real first and last names — as well as city of residence — are required for all commenters.
This is so we can verify your identity before approving your comment.
By commenting here you agree to abide by our Code of Conduct. Please read our code at the bottom of this page before commenting.